- A
Confidentiality
Why wrong: Confidentiality ensures data is accessible only to authorized users; encryption provides this, but the verification of no alteration is about integrity.
- B
Integrity
Integrity ensures data has not been altered. Verifying that the message content remains unchanged directly demonstrates integrity.
- C
Availability
Why wrong: Availability ensures data and systems are accessible when needed; the scenario does not relate to availability.
- D
Non-repudiation
Why wrong: Non-repudiation prevents denial of actions (e.g., sending a message), but verifying content unchanged is about integrity, not non-repudiation.
Question 1,298 of 1,411
SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A user receives an encrypted email from their bank. They use their private key to decrypt the message. After reading it, they verify that the message content has not been altered during transit. Which security principle is primarily demonstrated by the verification that the content was not altered?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Integrity
The verification that the message content has not been altered during transit directly demonstrates the principle of integrity. Integrity ensures that data remains unchanged from its source to its destination, typically enforced through cryptographic hashing or digital signatures. In this scenario, the user's ability to confirm that the email content was not tampered with relies on a hash or signature verification mechanism, which is the core function of integrity protection.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Confidentiality
Why it's wrong here
Confidentiality ensures data is accessible only to authorized users; encryption provides this, but the verification of no alteration is about integrity.
When this WOULD be correct
A question: 'Which security principle ensures that an encrypted email cannot be read by unauthorized parties?' would make confidentiality correct.
- ✓
Integrity
Why this is correct
Integrity ensures data has not been altered. Verifying that the message content remains unchanged directly demonstrates integrity.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Availability
Why it's wrong here
Availability ensures data and systems are accessible when needed; the scenario does not relate to availability.
When this WOULD be correct
A scenario where a user cannot access their encrypted email due to a server outage or denial-of-service attack would test availability. The question would ask: 'Which security principle is compromised when users cannot retrieve their emails?'
- ✗
Non-repudiation
Why it's wrong here
Non-repudiation prevents denial of actions (e.g., sending a message), but verifying content unchanged is about integrity, not non-repudiation.
When this WOULD be correct
A user receives a digitally signed email from their bank. After verifying the signature, they can prove to a third party that the bank indeed sent the email. Which security principle does this proof demonstrate?
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The SC-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓IntegrityCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Integrity ensures data has not been altered. Verifying that the message content remains unchanged directly demonstrates integrity.
✗ConfidentialityWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The question asks about verifying that content was not altered, which is integrity. Confidentiality protects data from unauthorized access, not from modification.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question: 'Which security principle ensures that an encrypted email cannot be read by unauthorized parties?' would make confidentiality correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse encryption (which provides confidentiality) with integrity verification, thinking that because the email was encrypted, the verification step also relates to confidentiality.
✗AvailabilityWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
The question asks about verifying that message content was not altered, which is the definition of integrity. Availability concerns ensuring data is accessible when needed, not verifying content integrity.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A scenario where a user cannot access their encrypted email due to a server outage or denial-of-service attack would test availability. The question would ask: 'Which security principle is compromised when users cannot retrieve their emails?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse availability with integrity because both are part of the CIA triad, and they might think that verifying content is about ensuring the message is 'available' in its original form.
✗Non-repudiationWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Non-repudiation ensures that the sender cannot deny having sent the message, but the question focuses on verifying that the content was not altered, which is integrity.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A user receives a digitally signed email from their bank. After verifying the signature, they can prove to a third party that the bank indeed sent the email. Which security principle does this proof demonstrate?
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse integrity (content unchanged) with non-repudiation (undeniable origin), as both involve cryptographic verification and are often discussed together in security contexts.
Analysis generated from the official SC-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse integrity with non-repudiation, but non-repudiation proves the origin of the message (who sent it), whereas integrity proves the message was not altered—two distinct security goals.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Availability ensures data and systems are accessible when needed; the scenario does not relate to availability.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Integrity in email security is often implemented using a digital signature (e.g., S/MIME or PGP) where the sender hashes the message and encrypts that hash with their private key. The recipient decrypts the hash using the sender's public key and recomputes the hash of the received message; if the two hashes match, integrity is confirmed. This process relies on cryptographic hash functions like SHA-256, which are collision-resistant and ensure that even a single bit change in transit would produce a different hash value.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-900 question test?
Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — This question tests Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Integrity — The verification that the message content has not been altered during transit directly demonstrates the principle of integrity. Integrity ensures that data remains unchanged from its source to its destination, typically enforced through cryptographic hashing or digital signatures. In this scenario, the user's ability to confirm that the email content was not tampered with relies on a hash or signature verification mechanism, which is the core function of integrity protection.
What should I do if I get this SC-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SC-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SC-900 exam.
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